Citation

Shi J, Liu M. Transp. Res. F Traffic Psychol. Behav. 2019; 60: 93-104.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.trf.2018.10.018

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Inappropriate lane changing behaviour increases a driver's risk of being involved in a crash and the injury severity levels. It is hypothesized in this study that differentiated per-lane speed limit freeways could reduce inappropriate lane changing behaviours. A driving simulator experiment was conducted to investigate drivers' lane changing behaviour and the corresponding workload levels when different speed limit values are assigned to different lanes. Participants (N = 36) experienced three different test scenarios with different speed limit configurations. Lane changing behaviours are compared in regards to five measures describing lane changing behaviour. Meanwhile, task workload indexes were developed to evaluate key aspects of drivers' subjective experience of the test. The results reveal that the speed limit configurations have a considerable impact on lane changing behaviour as well as on the corresponding driving workload levels. This applies especially to the scenario with both different maximum and minimum speed limits for adjacent lanes, with drivers behaving differently than they did in other situations. Lane changes were found to be less frequent and have shorter durations, and drivers tended to avoid the dangerous behaviour of "rolling on the lane edge", therefore these compensatory safety-prone driving strategies suggest an enhanced driving safety level in association with the differentiated per-lane speed limit scenarios. The findings could provide important references for traffic management of freeways.

Language: en

Keywords

Differentiated per-lane speed limits; Driving behavior; Driving simulator; Driving workload; Lane changing; NASA-TLX